


Gift Of Silver

by dianemaryallison



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Love Confessions, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-31
Updated: 2014-12-31
Packaged: 2018-03-03 08:43:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2844941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dianemaryallison/pseuds/dianemaryallison
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Melinda May is on her way to spend Christmas with her mother when her plans change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gift Of Silver

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lady_Jayde_Une](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Jayde_Une/gifts).



> I'm still pretty much beginner so please point out mistakes gently. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this as much as I had fun writing this!

It was going to be Christmas and Melinda was leaving. It made Phil sad. But he understood her choice. Her mother had called about a week ago and asked her to come to her and celebrate Christmas with her. And of course, Melinda said yes.

The Playground was only about two hours flight from where Lian May lived so Melinda and she agreed that Melinda would stay with the team as long as possible and finish all her work before she’d take an early flight  to Pennsylvania on the Christmas day.

There were a few attempts to persuade Melinda to stay with them during the holiday coming from Skye, Bobbi and Jemma, even Hunter mentioned once or twice that it would be nice to have a calm family Christmas.

However, as Phil had suspected, Melinda declined all of them. Her mother held her promises high and she’d raised her daughter like that. Melinda held her word. Always.

So now they were walking towards the elevators, Melinda with her bag in her one hand wore her winter jacket and watched Phil, amused by his attempts not to let anything fall from his grasp. He almost couldn’t see the hall in front of them over the pile of packages of all shapes packed in colourful wrapping paper he held in his arms. Even though as the Director he had an awful lot of work over the whole year he had found a little space to seek Christmas gifts for their little team.

“I could help, you know.” she offered again and a small smirk formed on her face when Phil reached for the button to call the elevator and a box slid out of his arms.

“Thanks, I’m good.”  She pushed the button instead then picked up the parcel and placed it back into his arms.

“Of course you are.”

They walked in.

“So what are you planning on?” he asked. “I mean when you get to your mother’s.” he added somehow sad.

Melinda glanced over at him and he pretended to be fumbling with one of the ribbons on the package. She knew better but she let it slide. “I don’t know yet. She was making some plans. I just want it to be calm.”

 _Relax a bit,_ that would be nice. They haven’t stopped themselves since what seemed like forever and he couldn’t really think of one day when they didn’t have to cope with a crisis lately. He knew Melinda and he knew she would never admit it nor let alone ask for a break but she was tired and he could see. She had circles under her eyes, even darker than usually and she spent less time with the punching bag and more doing her Tai Chi. She deserved some rest. He was just sad she would get it so far away from them, from him.

Phil didn’t want to be without her especially on Christmas. He sighed. He really wished she’d stay.

His thoughts were interrupted by the shattering floor underneath them. Then the cabin stopped moving and the lights were out. Melinda frowned looking over the console. It seemed dead and he got his assumption stated when nothing happened after she pushed the button again.

Melinda groaned annoyed, set her bag on the ground to dial the cargo on her phone. Phil finally freed his arms when he sat the boxes on the floor while she waited for Mack to pick up.

“Mack. It’s May. We got stuck in the elevator. Can you please look at it?” She waited for a second while he heard Mack talking. “Yes, thank you.” She put her phone away. “He’ll get it repaired in a sec.”

He smiled at her. “No problem.”

“Is your mom still angry at you for staying with S.H.IE.L.D?” he asked after a moment of silence. He knew her mother wasn’t very happy when she heard about Melinda's choice to stay with the team after S.H.I.E.L.D’d fallen. She wanted her daughter to join some other national intelligence agencies just as every other S.H.I.E.L.D agent had if he’d survived the Hydra attack.

Melinda shrugged. “We haven’t spoken much about it. She can’t do anything about it anyway. I said I’d stay and I’m here.”

Phil was so grateful for that. He was entirely sure they wouldn’t have come this far if she wasn’t present and helping him with pretty much everything. Also he knew _he_ wouldn’t have been here if there wasn’t her.

There was no one else, except Skye in the end, who knew about his episodes or about the GH 325 serum. She was the only one in the team who knew that he’d died.

Phil still couldn’t quite fathom it that she came back after how he’d behave to her in Providence. He regretted yelling at her so much. All because she was trying to protect him.

“She didn’t try to make Maria recruit you?”

Melinda shot him a glance with an arched brow. “Why would she do that?”

This time he pulled his shoulders up. “She didn’t want you to stay here and always like Hill and never liked me…” Lian May disliked him very much since he first got assigned together with her daughter, he was very well aware of that. Meeting her once was enough for him and on every formal occasion where she appeared he did his best to get out of her way. Which was hard as he went as Melinda’s date every single time.

To his surprise Melinda chuckled. “She likes you more than you might think.”

Phil would have asked what she meant by that but the lights got back on and he heard the sound of power running through the wires. Melinda pushed the button again and they got into motion again.

However, after about another half a meter there was a loud bang and they got struck off their feet.

A second later he was laying on the ground, Melinda splayed over him as the fall caught them both off guard. Boxes were a mess all around them.

“Phil. You’re okay?” she asked immediately sounding alarmed being the first to compose herself.

He moved and winced. His head hurt but it wasn’t that bad. Phil touched it carefully but there was no blood on his fingers when he withdrew them.

“Yes, I’m okay. You?” he looked at her and she nodded shortly before getting up.

“What the hell…” she looked around them. It seemed as if the whole capsule broke off. When Melinda hit the wall of the elevator he got his theory confirmed.  There was no hollow sound of metal echo as there normally should be. Instead they heard a plain short bang as if punching a wall.

Melinda reached for the phone again but they were now too deep under the ground to reach any signal so she couldn’t call for help either. Anyway, he doubted crash like that would go unnoticed. Mack was probably already somewhere above them hopefully trying to fix this mess.

Melinda sighed. Suddenly all the stress seemed to catch up on her and she looked tired when she turned back to him. He sat up straight by the time still rubbing his head softly.

“We’re stuck.” She stated matter of factly.

Phil propped himself to get up and winced again. Not just his head but his shoulder hurt and pain ran through his whole back. He must have hit the ground harder than he thought. A least Melinda seemed to be okay. That made him happier. He could get hurt, hit his head, get shot but Phil hated to see her suffering any kind of pain. He was glad she landed on him even if it meant he was practically unable to move his arm even that much that he would push some of the boxes aside.

She knelt next to him looking concerned.

“I’m fine…” he started when she interrupted him by touching the back of his head and he winced. “It’s not that bad.” He informed her but she didn’t seem to believe him. She was so damn close that he could feel the heat radiating from her body, smell hair freshly washed hair. Her lips were just a few centimetres from his cheek when she bent over him to examine his head further.

She had wonderful lips, they seemed so soft. He’d like to test if it also felt like it when he pressed his over her mouth. _He could just… No_. He must have hit his head way worse than he’d thought because this was very inappropriate and simply unacceptable. Phil couldn’t kiss her no matter how much he wanted to. He was sure she wouldn’t appreciate such display of the emotions he had for her.

She didn’t have the same feelings for him as he had for her. Well, almost sure… when she spoke about caring. He meant a lot to her.

Phil was so mad at her back then and she seemed so hurt when he threw those words back at her.

Since then he kept replaying the scene countless times in his head. _He evaluated all the possible meanings but it couldn’t be true, could it?_ He was madly in love with her for almost half of his life but she was unreachable for him. He was her best man at her wedding.

It hurt so much to see her smiling so easily at someone else, to listen to her when she promised to spend the rest of her life with different person. Melinda was his best friend, his partner, the object of his phantasies. Phil loved her and he couldn’t do without her.

That was why he still hadn’t told Audrey about his resurrection, even when he had the chance. He did know back then, he was just really good at living in denial. He practically made himself believe he fell out of love with her and was happy with another woman. All just lies. He knew it wasn’t true as soon as he saw Audrey again. Seeing his cellist again only made him want to return to Melinda and apologize maybe even be able to hug her once again.

But at the time he got back to the base she was gone and he wondered if he pushed her away for good this time.

And now she was still here with him living in a nightmare just to help him. He could never thank her enough.

“We could try to open the emergency exit and climb out. I don’t think we’re that deep down that we couldn’t get out somehow.” She was examining the ceiling of the elevator and trying to figure out how to get them out while he was evaluating his feelings towards her staring at her. Luckily he didn’t get caught.

“Huh? Oh, yes sure.” He returned to the reality.

Unfortunately, it was a S.H.I.E.L.D elevator adjusted for huge transfer and the roof was at least another metre over their reach.

“I can prop you up.” He proposed.

“Phil, you’re hurt. It’s not a good idea to put that much weight on you,” he gave her a weird look. Her petite form was so easy to lift he didn’t even have to make much effort. She wouldn’t hurt him.

“May, neither of us can open it and we really should get out if you want to make it to the airport to catch your plane.” He was sure her mother wouldn’t appreciate if Melinda missed the plane and didn’t come.

Melinda was aware of that fact and nodded slightly. He bent down just a bit catching her just above her knees and lifting her right under the exit door. She fumbled with the lock for a second which gave him some time to breath in her scent fully. If he wanted he could lay his head on her lower stomach. He would just happily stay like that but then she pulled a small lever and pushed the door upwards.

From his place beneath her, Phil could see her frown when it didn’t move. She pushed harder and the hinged door opened slightly letting a stream of dust and small rocks fall right into her face. She coughed and let the metal fall back down, bending her head down to protect herself from any more dirt that could fall on her.

He set her back on the floor carefully but kept his arms around her waist. “May? You’re okay?” she nodded still coughing.

“So were cluttered up in here.” He watched her trying to get the soil out of her eyes. Without even realising his movements,Phil reached out and touched her cheek gently. She looked at him in surprise but blinked again as her eyes well up trying to get rid of the particles that itched.

Phil brought his other hand to her face too and stilled her movements while he cleaned her eyes. When he was done she blinked again and smiled at him gently.

Even though he had no reason to keep touching her,Phil left his hands on her face watching her. His thumb ran as a metronome over her right cheek while his other hand caressed her the other one. She watched him back looking maybe a bit alarmed but not uncomfortable. He ran his fingers along her cheek bone, past her jaw, over her lips. Her eyes widened when he stepped closer into her personal space but she didn’t flinch which he took as a good sign and leaned in. Their lips met and he couldn’t be happier.

He had kissed her a handful of times before during their missions but it was never like this. Though he loved kissing her before, it felt never this sincere when they weren’t under any false pretence.

She taste so sweet and like tea he was sure he would remember this moment until the end of his life. Nothing could take a memory of kissing Melinda May not even death and what was after that.

A second later he came back to his senses and drew back in shock. “Melinda, I’m so sorry I…” he stuttered but she kept silent, her expression hard to decipher even for him. He gulped and let his hands fall to his sides.

“Phil?” she studied him.

Phil had to at least try to explain himself to her. He just feared losing her if she found out. But now was too late, the damage was done. He took a deep breath before opening his mouth again. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to. My brain switched off for a minute. It won’t happen again,” he couldn’t bear the way she was looking at him anymore and lowered his gaze on the floor.

“Why?” Her voice confused him. Instead of anger and rejection he awaited it was full of gentleness and… No, now he was making things up.

 _But she’d asked and they’d said no more lies, right?_ Maybe better now than sometime different. He met her eyes again locking on them. “I love you.”

Her mouth twitched upwards and a cheerful smile he hadn’t seen for long appeared on her face. Melinda closed the gap between them and reached out to cup his cheek. Involuntarily he leaned into her touch and her smiled brightened even more. She tiptoed and tilted her head so she could capture his lips. His body reacted immediately and he wrapped his arm around her waist tightly his other hand wandered into her hair.

Breathing seemed to be the least important thing at the moment as he was not willing to let her go at any cost but they had to part eventually. While trying to catch his breath again he hugged her tightly, had her pressed against himself, in case she would want to run. He wanted to feel her just a moment longer.

But she didn’t move away she just held onto him almost as tightly as he did. He felt her smile against his neck.

When he felt her peeling away from him he loosened his grip to give her space whereas she tilted her head just so much that she could look at him.

“I love you too.” She said and he just stared at her. _Melinda May loved him?_ Of course she did but only in his dreams and he was sure he wasn’t dreaming right now. _Could he be this lucky?_

“You do?”

“I do. I love you.” she assured him still smiling.

He wasn’t dreaming. He was so happy he could die. Or rather not. He just got a chance to be with Melinda dying would be a stupid thing to do.

He grinned at her like an idiot at she didn’t seem to mind.

Than somehow a picture of Lian May shot into his mind and he froze. “Your mother is going to kill me.” He exclaimed terrified.

She chuckled. “She won’t. I won’t let her.”

“You could stay here with us. Stay for the Christmas!” he pleaded.

“I won’t catch the plane anyway.”

They kissed again.

-o0o-

 

It took Mack another half an hour to get down to them and clear away everything on the hood so he could free them.

Later Simmons checked Phil’s head and shoulder but he was fine just like he thought.

“You were lucky you were on the lowest floor. If you were higher, you could have ended both much worse.” Jemma worried.

“We’re fine.” They both assured them countless times before they got out of the lab.

Skye squeaked when she found out that Melinda was staying. She wished for real family Christmas her whole life and it was finally becoming truth.

After dinner they all sat in the communal area that got transformed mostly thanks to Skye, Bobbi and Trip into a really festive hall full of dangling little lights and a Christmas tree on side of the room.

They sat on couches chatting cheerfully, exchanging gifts. Bobbi and Lance were seated way too close together but no one questioned it. However, when they saw Melinda leaning against the Director casually and him having his arm around her, there were many confused looks in the room.

But it was Christmas time of love and joy. And they were all happy.

“I got you something, love.” Phil whispered to Melinda silently out of everyone’s ear reach.

He took out a little box out of his inside suit pocket and handed it over to her. She took it and opened it just to stay absolutely stunned.

There was a thin neckless with a silver ring on it. The one that belonged to her father. The one that she lost during their mission in Russia all those years back.

“You remembered.” She sounded amazed staring at the ring in her hand.

“How could I forget? You were so devastated when we didn’t find it afterwards. I know how much it meant to you, I wanted you to have it back.” He rubbed her back gently. “It’s not the same, I couldn’t find that one, but it’s an exact replica of it.”

“How did you get it?”

“I called your mother.” He gulped and she turned to look at him.

“You what?”

“I called you mom and she sent me some pictures where there was the ring and I got it made for you.” he was smiling at her softly.

She hugged him tight. “Thank you.”

He was so glad she stayed.

 


End file.
